Ceiling light fills the middle of a room and leaves its edges flat. A table lamp corrects that, putting warm light at seated height, which is where a room starts to feel inhabited. Here it is done in travertine, alabaster and aluminum.

Stone, alabaster and metal

Most of the range is carved rather than assembled. Arabella is a solid travertine block, and Dara and Vera pair the same yellow stone with aluminum in cordless forms, 13.4 and 11 inches tall. Ora sets alabaster on stainless steel at 12 inches across, so the light comes through the stone. Aris is the desk piece, rechargeable, with touch dimming and three color temperatures.

Height, light and surface

On a nightstand, choose a lamp whose light source sits near eye level when you are seated, usually 24 to 30 inches of overall height, and keep the footprint smaller than the surface below. The range runs warm white at 3000K, and the stone and alabaster bodies diffuse it further, so the material does part of the shading.

One lamp per dark corner

A pair flanking a bed gives each side its own light and control. One on a console warms a foyer, and one in the darkest corner of a living room changes how the space reads after dark. Floor lamps cover what a table cannot reach, and since travertine and alabaster read as objects in daylight, these hold their place with the light off.

Decide which surface needs light first, nightstand, console or desk, then pick the material. The rechargeable pieces go wherever the outlet is not.